National Nursing Week

WINNIPEg FREE PRESS - SATURDAY, MAY 9, 2015 5 Hospital Home Team nurse practitioner Joanna Orlowski, with her client Doug Peterson. FindtheQuickCareclinic nearestyou WINNIPEG Unit3,620DakotaStreet 204-940-2211 WINNIPEG 363McGregorStreet 204-940-1963 WINNIPEG 17St.Mary'sRoad 204-940-4332 STEINBACH ClearspringCentre 204-326-7569 SELKIRK Unit3,1020ManitobaAvenue 204-482-4399 manitoba.ca/betterhealth VisitaQuickCareclinic. WhatisaQuickCareclinic? QuickCareclinicsaretheretomeet yourhealthcareneedsduringtimes whenmostotherclinicsareclosed. QuickCareclinicsarestaffedbynurse practitionersandregisterednurses whocanhelpprevent,diagnoseand treatminorhealthissues.Because theyareopenevenings,weekends andholidays,theycansaveyouatrip toanemergencyroomorhavingto waitforregularclinichours. Whathealthissuesaretreated atQuickCareclinics? • Sorethroat,earache,coldsandflu, cough,hayfeverornosebleeds • Infections,rashesorsores • Stomachpain • Immunizations • Bumps,bruisesorsprains • Stressoranxiety MeetManitoba's NursePractitioners. The Home Team These nurse practitioners make house calls By Holli Moncrieff - For the Free Press Just call them health care's most wanted — nurse practitioners are so sought after that many juggle several different jobs in clinics and hospitals. N urse practitioners are similar to general practitioners in terms of scope of practice. They can order tests, prescribe medication and refer their patients to specialists. "There is very little we cannot do. Our scope really did expand. Every day our role grows," says Joanna Orlowski, who has been a nurse practitioner since 2010. "Some people feel that if they have a nurse practitioner they need a doctor as well, but they don't." Nurse practitioners cannot bill Manitoba Health. They can't enrol their patients in certain programs or sign insurance forms, but most work with physicians who are more than willing to co-sign. "We can't do surgery, but in so many ways we practice in similar roles to physicians. Our roles overlap," Orlowski says. "Nurse practitioners are in many different settings, not just primary care clinics." Orlowski works on a Hospital Home Team, helping people who have not done well in the traditional health-care system, either due to complex health concerns, complex social situations, or both. The team's goal is to keep people in their homes and out of the hospital. "Some of our patients are homebound so they cannot see their provider. We bridge that gap," she says. "We try to get referrals so they don't have to go to the hospital." Before becoming a nurse practitioner in 2008, Bev Dyer worked for Health Canada, providing medical care to First Nations communities. "First Nations communities often didn't have physicians, so I wanted to continue with more of that autonomy," Dyer says. She's seen the public's understanding of nurse practitioners improve a lot over the years. "In the beginning we had a bit of teaching to do so people would understand what a nurse practitioner is — what we do and what we can't do. There is still a lot of education that needs to take place, but it's come along quite a way," she says. "When I first started, there was still a bit of confusion. There's enough of us now that I haven't run into that in a long, long time." As part of the Hospital Home Team, Dyer and Orlowski make house calls in order to help those who are unable to see a health-care provider due to mobility issues, mental health concerns, or lack of social supports. They also assist patients who have been frequent visitors to hospital emergency rooms, working with them to address their health concerns in the community. "The reasons they go to emergency may not be strictly medical. They may be lonely; they may want a sandwich," Dyer says. "We really strive to do health education and health promotion. We can spend more time with our patients and do more teaching." An initial assessment looks at health, social and mobility issues — whether patients can get out on their own or shop for groceries, for example — and the team works together with patients and their families to set health-care goals. The nurse practitioners may connect them with other health-care services and providers. "If they're going to the hospital a lot, we can probably have a role in helping them," Orlowski says. "One Hospital Home patient is like 10 personal-care patients. Some patients need more time, and some need less, but seeing patients is still the part of my job that gives me the most satisfaction." ● NURSES With you every step of the way Hospital Home Team nurse practitioner Beverly Dyer, with her client Norman Slutsky. Photos by Darcy Finley

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